The days of the United States House of Representatives leadership blocking debate and a vote on the ISIS War appear to be coming to an end. On Thursday, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), along with Reps Walter Jones (R-NC) and Barbara Lee (D-CA), introduced, pursuant to the War Powers Resolution, a privileged resolution (H.Con.Res. 55) intended to force the House to debate and vote within 15 days on withdrawing US armed forces from Iraq and Syria.
Upon the resolution’s introduction, Reps. McGovern and Jones (a Ron Paul Institute Advisory Board member) spoke for 26 compelling and informative minutes on the House floor regarding the resolution they had introduced, as well as their frustration with the US war in Iraq and Syria and the failure of Congress to meet its responsibility to debate and vote on that war.
Reaching the heart of the matter, McGovern declared on the House floor:
Well, if we’re going to continue to spend billions on war, and if we’re going to continue to tell our armed forces that we expect them to fight and die in these wars, then it seems to me the least we can do is stand up and vote to authorize these wars, or we should end them. We owe that to the American people, we owe that to our troops and their families, and we owe that to the oath of office that each of us took to uphold the Constitution of the United States.
Jones reinforced McGovern’s comments, concluding:
I want to fulfill my duty as a member of Congress, and follow the Constitution, and have the debates on spending blood and money in these foreign countries.
Watch McGovern and Jones’ House floor speeches here:
